A fisherman in China’s Fujian province hauled in a record catch last Friday, when he found a two-ton, sixteen-foot endangered whale shark thrashing around in his net, News 163 reported.
Cai Chengzu said that the ponderous beast died in the struggle so he decided to bring it to market, where he planned on selling it for around 20,000 yuan (HK$25,000)… but officials from the Fujian fisheries department refused to allow the sale of the endangered species.
Chengzu seems to have sidestepped the ban for a curbside fire sale of shark meat, according to photos published by Shanghaiist.
The whale shark is the biggest fish and the biggest shark in the world, but it’s not a predator and it consumes only plankton. As plankton flourishes in clean water, the presence of whale sharks is a sign of a healthy ocean area. Whale sharks are classified as vulnerable by the WWF, and threatened by unregulated fishing for their fins and oil.
So Mr. Chengzu, if you find one in your net again, we’d like to ask you to kindly let it go.
Photos: Shanghaiist, News163
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